The San Jose Department of Transportation (DOT) has posted six pedestrian signs in the middle of crosswalks on Lincoln Avenue to warn motorists that it's illegal to enter them when pedestrians are present.

Four of the pedestrian signs are located at the crosswalks at Broadway, El Abra Way, Meredith Avenue and Brace Avenue. One is on the crosswalk in front of Peet's Coffee & Tea, 1140-3 Lincoln Ave., while the other is on the crosswalk in front of Le Boulanger, 1351 Lincoln Ave.

Transportation officials said the pedestrian signs, installed on Aug. 9, were just approved for use by Caltrain and will be installed on crosswalks with no traffic signals.

"Lincoln Avenue was chosen to be the first place in San Jose to install these new signs because of its high level of pedestrians," said Harry Frietas, deputy director of the DOT. "I think the signs increase the awareness of drivers that they are entering a high­pedestrian activity zone."

Frietas said that transportation officials will conduct a three-month study to evaluate the effectiveness of the pedestrian signs. If the signs help motorists pay more attention to pedestrians, more will be installed at other high-pedestrian areas such as schools, parks, senior centers, and business districts.

Drivers and pedestrians interviewed by the Willow Glen Resident were generally positive about the signs.

"This was the first time we crossed the street using the sign and the cars stopped faster than usual," said Larry Neher after crossing the pedestrian walk on Brace Avenue with his 2-year-old daughter, Caitlin. "As a driver, I find crosswalks are much more obvious with these signs. This is a practical solution."

Another resident, Diane Dougherty, said she feels safer when crossing the street because of the new signs.

"I used to hate crossing the pedestrian walks because it was so hard to get the attention of the drivers," Dougherty said. "Now they seem to take more notice and stop."

But some residents said they think the pedestrian signs can be more effective with light illuminating the sidewalks where pedestrians wait to cross Lincoln Avenue.

"Some of the sidewalks where pedestrians wait to cross Lincoln Avenue are not illuminated enough," said Rick Infatino, a regular shopper in Willow Glen. "Drivers still cannot see pedestrians waiting to cross traffic at night."

Transportation officials said they will improve the street lighting.

Another project to improve pedestrian safety is underway.

The San Jose City Council agreed to spend $180,000 building crosswalks with warning uplights on Lincoln Avenue to increase pedestrians' visibility to motorists. The lights embedded in the crosswalks light up when pedestrians walk on them.

Transportation engineers are evaluating four possible crosswalk locations to install the uplights: in front of Peet's Coffee & Tea, in front of La Boulanger, the intersection of Brace and Lincoln avenues, and the intersection of Broadway and Lincoln avenues.

"Once we finalize the locations, we can decide how many uplight crosswalks we can build," said Laura Wells, a DOT engineer.

Although the budget will only fund the construction of two uplight crosswalks, Wells said one more could be built if the existing streetlights along Lincoln Avenue are incorporated into the designs of the uplight crosswalks.

The installation of the pedestrian signs and the construction of crosswalks with uplights are just two of the many projects the city of San Jose has worked on during the past two years to improve pedestrian safety.

The San Jose City Council has approved a five-year plan to convert 10 one-way thoroughfares back to two-way streets. A total of $5 million was spent on traffic calming last year. An $850,000 traffic safety education program will be launched in October.

The city's campaign to improve walkers' safety seems successful. The number of pedestrian deaths has dropped from 17 in 2000 to 11 in 2001. A recent study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national nonprofit organization, praised the city's policies to protect pedestrians, although San Jose was still ranked sixth on a list of the 58 most dangerous Californian cities for pedestrians.

Pedestrian safety advocacy groups recognize the city's efforts to improve pedestrian safety but say the city needs to allocate more money and staff to implement its policies.

"The city of San Jose has been making good progress in polices," said Russell Westbrook, president of Walk San Jose, a pedestrian and bicycle safety advocacy group. "But what's falling behind now is the implementation."